Pavement sealer spreader apparatus



OCt- 27, 1964 G. R. DABELLE 3,153,992

PAVEMENT SEALER SPREADER APPARATUS Filed Nov. 16, 1959 I5 Sheets-Sheet lA WAAAAAAAA@ 86 [0 (4 22 R.

Oct. 27, 1964 G. R. DABELLE 3,153,992

.PAVEMENT SEALER SPREADER APPARATUS Filed Nov. 16, 1959 I5 Sheets-Sheet2 INV ENTOR aadmypabge,

ATTORNEYS Oct. 27, 1964 Filed Nov. 16, 1959 G. R. DABELLE PAVEMENTSEALER SPREADEIR APPARATUS Fiapg.

3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR GOdffq/RDUQIZQ,

ATTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,153,992 Y PAVEMENT SEALER SPREADERAPPARATUS Godfrey R. Dabelle, Eden, N Y., assigner, by mesneassignments, to E. D. Etnyre & Co., Oregon, Ill. Filed Nov. 16, 1959,Ser. No. 853,391 2 Claims. (Cl. 94-44) This invention relates toapparatus for depositing and spreading liquid or semi-liquid material orslurry on pavement, and more particularly to mobile apparatus adapted todeposit and spread such material continuously as the apparatus passesalong a road or street.

Certain types of road pavements and similar paved surfaces such asblacktop and macadam are improved and rendered more durable andwater-resistant by the application of liquid or semi-liquid sealingcompounds or mixtures of various kinds. Such application involvesdepositing the material on the paved surface and spreading the sameuniformly thereover as by means of squeegees or the like. The provisionof suitable apparatus for this purpose presents the problem of securinga generally uniform deposit of material across the pavement as theapparatus moves therealong.

This problem is complicated by the sticky, somewhat viscous and adherentnature of the sealing or surface treating material and the tendency ofthe same to build up in the depositing apparatus and thus alter thedepositing properties thereof. Other problems arise in the depositing ofthe material owing to the inclined surfaces of pavements, as whensealing material is being applied to one side of a crowned roadway orstreet, and also, when the apparatus is mounted at the rear of a truckor is towed thereby, due to inability of the truck driver to maintain asufficiently straight or properly aligned course.

The present invention provides apparatus which receives liquid orsemi-liquid material as the same flows from a tank and diverges the owby means of a novel arrangement of open channels which are inherentlynonclogging, easy to clean when necessary or desirable, and adapted tomaintain uniform depositing properties during long periods of continuousor intermittent use. The spreading and depositing apparatus of thepresent invention is further arranged so that the zone in which thematerial is deposited may readily be shifted laterally in eitherdirection to compensate when depositing on an inclined surface and tooffset or laterally adjust the deposit for any other operational reason.

The spreading phase of the operation which follows the actual depositingof the material is likewise rendered diicult by reason of unavoidablesurface irregularities which are encountered in treating Vroads andother paved surfaces, particularly in the case of roads or pavementswhich may have been in use for substantial' periods before theapplication of the sealing or surfacing material contemplated herein.

The spreading apparatus of the invention includes a pair of successivelyoperating squeegee members, a first squeegee for effecting a generalspreading of the deposited material and a second squeegee for effectinga final or nish spreading. The first squeegee is arranged to have anadjustable but relatively fixed height with respect to the vehicle towhich the apparatus is attached While the second squeegee embodiesground engaging wheels for accurately determining the degree ofengagement of the squeegee with the road surface, regardless ofvariations in the height of the truck frame due to springing movementthereof or due to large variations in load on the springs which occur asthe tank carrying the treating material goes from full load to empty.

To further facilitate the spreading operation and produce a uniformwiping action despite unavoidable variations in the contour of thepavement, each squeegee is made up of a plurality of sections mountedfor individual resilient upward movement, as will appear later herein.

Means are provided whereby the aforesaid pair of squeegees may beselectively adjusted laterally jointly and without interference withtheir vertical positions or their degrees of predetermined spreadingcontact with the pavement. Thus the squeegees may be accuratelypositioned to operate close to a curbing or other desired guide linedespite minor variations in the course of the truck carrying theapparatus.

The machine of the present invention further provides means forselectively raising the entire squeegee structure clear of the pavementwhen the apparatus is to be moved about between spreading operations.Such means may be entirely manual or power operated or, as in theinstance set forth herein by way of example, may have combined manualand power operated means for electing raising and lowering movements.

According to the arrangement of the apparatus of the present inventionset forth herein by way of example, the depositing and spreadingmechanism is attached tothe rear of an automotive tank truck whichcarries a supply of the liquid or semi-liquid sealing or coatingmaterial. An operator seated above the spreading mechanism has withineasy reach control means for regulating the discharge valve from thetank truck to control the quantity of material passing to the depositingmeans; a control lever for disposing the spreading squeegees in theproper lateral positions and adjusting such positions as often as may benecessary; a control lever for adjusting the lateral range of deposit ofthe material prior to spreading; and manual and power booster means forraising and lowering the entire squeegee mechannism as required.

While a single complete embodiment of the principles of the presentinvention is set forth herein and illustrated in the drawings by way ofexample, it is to be understood that numerous mechanical modications andvariations may be effected or introduced without departing from thespirit of the invention, the scope of which is limited only as definedin the appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a general top plan View of one form of the apparatus of thepresent invention shown in association with the rear portion of a tanktruck;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational View of the structure shown in FIG. 1;

FIG.3 is a View similar to FIG. 2 but on a larger scale and showing thesqueegee supporting and controlling structure in cross sections, asindicated approximately by the line III--III of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary rear elevational view of the left hand portionof the squeegee and squeegee supporting structure of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an oblique plan view of the material distributing chuteportion of the structure as viewed approximately from the upper right ofFIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary cross sectional View on the line VI-VI of FIG.5;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary cross sectional view on the line VII-VII of FIG.5 and FIG. 8 is a fragmentary top plan view of a portion of the squeegeestructure on an enlarged scale showing a hinge portion thereof.

Speaking generally, the material depositing and spreading apparatus ofthe present invention, in the form described herein and illustrated inthe drawings, is mounted at the rear of a tank truck to be drawn therebyalong a roadway or the like, and the material which is deposited andspread by the present apparatus issues to the depositing and spreadingapparatus from the tank of the carrying truck. The material is a liquidor slurry which may comprise a bituminous or other sealing material orany roadway or pavement treating material in liquid or semi-liquid form.

Like characters of reference denote like parts throughout the severalfigures of the drawings and, referring particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2,the numeral 10 designates the usual parallel longitudinal channels ofthe frame portion of a truck chassis and the numeral 11 designates apair of tank base members mounted thereon. A tank 12 is mounted on thebase members 11 and feeds sealing liquid or slur-ry to the apparatus ofthe present invention by way of an outlet conduit 14. A valve (notshown) is provided in the conduit 14 so that the operator of theapparatus may regulate the rate of flow of material to the de.- positingmeans.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, a pair of depending support members 15are fixed rigidly to the truck frame members 16 and the tank basemembers 11 and generally horizontal angle iron members 16 are fixed tothe lower ends ofthe depending members 15 and extend rearwardlytherefrom as is best illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3. A transverse bracemember 17 extending between the angle irons 16 completes the generalrigid supporting frame structure for the spreading apparatus portion ofthe structure.

Front and rear transversely extending squeegee assernblies aredesignated generally by the numerals 21 and 22 and are attached atopposite sides to the front and rear ends, respectively, of front andrear longitudinal bars 23 and 24 which are hingedly connected' to eachother as at 25. The arrangement is such that the squeegees 21 and 22 andthe longitudinal support bars 23 and 24 are adjustable laterally as aunit so that the wiping path of the squeegees may be accurately adjustedto follow a desired line.

Front and rear transverse rock shafts 28 and 29 are supported at theunder sides of the rearwardly extending members 16 and a further rockshaft 30 is journaled in the lower ends of a pair of arms 31 which arepivoted at their upper ends to the members 16. Rock arms 33 fixed tofront rock shaft 2S are pivotally attached to depending links 34, thelower ends of which are in turn pivoted to a cross bar 35 extendingbetween the front squeegee supporting bars 23. The cross bar 35 isaxially slidable in the lower bearings of the links 34 to permit theabovementioned lateral adjustment of the squeegee assembly.

A further rock arm 38 fixed to rock shaft 28 at the left hand endthereof as viewed from the rear of the apparatus connects pivotally atits upper end with the forward end of a control link 4t). An adjustableabutment screw 41 limits clockwise swinging of the arm 38 and,accordingly, likewise limits clockwise rotation of arm 33. Since links34 connect with front longitudinal bars 23 close to the squeegee 21, thelowermost position of the latter is thus adjustably determined.

The rear squeegee 22 is attached to the rear ends of the rearlongitudinal bars 24 and the latter are provided with ground wheels 44whereby the working position of the rear squeegee 22 is accuratelymaintained with respect to the road or pavement surface despiteirregularities therein and despite relative vertical movements of thetruck chassis due to its spring suspension.

The means for raising the squeegees clear of the pavement to inactivepositions will now be described. A squeegee raising and lowering handlemember 45 is ik. `d to the left hand end of rock shaft 29, as viewedfrom the rear, and the rear end of control link 40 is pivoted to thehandle member as at 46. A pair of bearing block members 47 are fixed toopposite ends of the swinging rock shaft 30 and include axially spacedbearing formations 48 and 49. A bracket member 5t) is pivotallyconnected to each of the bearing block members 47 by means of spacedcoaxial bearings 51 and 52 and a pivot pin 53.

Each bearing block member 47 includes an arm formation 54, Handle member45 includes an offset arm portion 55 and a rock arm 56 is fixed to theright hand end of rock `shaft 29, as viewed from the rear. Both theoffset arm portion 55 of the handle member and the rock' arm 56 connectpivotally with the upper ends of links 57 whose lower ends are pivotedto the outer ends of the arm formations 54 of the hearing block members47.

The lower rear portions of the bracket members 50 include spaced coaxialpivot bearings 58 and 59 and bearing block members 60 attached to rearsqueegee 22 have aligned pivot bearings 61 and 62. Pivot pins 63extending through the bearings 5S, 59, 61 and 62 pivotally connect theblock members 60 to the bracket members '50 for pivotal movement aboutgenerally upright axes which in the present instance are parallel to theaxes of the plvot pins 53.

From the foregoing it will be seen that swinging the handle member 45 ina counterclockwise direction about degrees from the position illustratedin FIGS. 2 and 3 will dispose the pivots connecting the rock arms 33 and56 and the offset arm portion 55 with the links 34 and 57 in anovercenter position with respect to the rock shafts 28 and 29 and thussupport the squeegees 21 and 22 in a raised position clear of theroadway or pavement. To facilitate such raising movement the weight ofthe squee gee and squeegee mounting structure is counterbalanced to anydesired degree as by means of torsion springs 64 shown in FIG. 4 whichare attached at their inner ends to rock shaft 29 and at their outerends to angle mernd bers 16 to bias the rock shaft in a counterclockwisedirection as viewed in FIGS. 2 and 3.

It will be noted that the pivot connections of arms 50 as defined bypivot pins 53 and 63 permit free lateral movement of squeegee 22 byswinging of arms 50 and that squeegee 21 is connected, by longitudinalmembers 23 and 24, to move laterally with squeegee 22, the cross bar 35sliding through the bearings' of links 34 as aforef said. This lateralmovement which adjusts the path of the squeegees is effected andcontrolled by a handle mem= ber 65 fixed to a vertical rock shaft 66. I

An arm 67 fixed to rock shaft 66 connects prv'otally with one end of alink 68 the other end of which is pivoted to the left hand arm 50. Thepivots of link 68 may -be relatively loose to permit free lifting of thearms 50 when the squeegees are raised. For simplicity the handle member65 and associated parts 66, 67 and 68 are shown in FIG. l but omittedfrom the other figures) Referring particularly to FIG. 2, the numeral 69de signates a hydraulic piston and cylinder arrangement abi tached totruck frame member 10 and connected to link 40 to move the sameforwardly and thus lift the squeegee mechanism when the cylinder isenergized. The servo mechanism thus provided may be used in conjunctionwith the manual handle 45, as shown herein, or as the sole squeegee liftcontrol means.

Referring particularly to FIG. 3, this lifting action, as to the rearsqueegee 22 and associated support structure, is accomplished bycounterclockwise rotation of arms 54 and bracket members 50 about theswinging rockshaft 30. When the handle 45 is in the operative posi-1tion indicated in FIG. 3, the lower pivots of links 57 seri/el as a sortof xed fulcrum for the squeegee 22 and its supporting structure, wherebythe wheels 44 and the squeegee are free to adjust upwardly anddownwardly in traversing a road surface and also in response tovariations in the height of the fixed frame structure from the road aswhen the tank 12 contains varying quantities of material. As the bracketmembers 50 and arms 54 oscillate about the lower pivots of links 57 ineffecting such adjustments, the rock shaft 30 is free to raise and lowerby oscillation of the arms 31 which support the same.

Both pairs of the links 34 and 57 may be selectively adjusted as tolength as by threading into and out of their end fittings.

The squeegees 21 and 22 are substantially identical and therefore adescription of one will suiiice for both'. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4,the rear squeegee 22 corn-` prises a central rail member or carrier 70and connected lateral rail members 71, each of which gives resilientsupport to a plurality of individual end-to-end squeegee sections 72 asshown in FIG. 4. In the present instance each squeegee section 72 has apair of rods 73 extending upwardly therefrom through the rail members 70and 71 and through spring backing members 74 and 75, respectively, theindividual squeegee sections 72 being urged downwardly by coil springs76.

Thus the independent yieldability of the several squeegee sections 72permits the squeegee to traverse uneven road surfaces, the squeegeesections 72 being pressed individually into resilient engagement withthe varying surface portions of the road or pavement. It will be notedfrom FIG. l that the end squeegee sections are angled forwardly toretain the material within the path of the squeegees.

The lateral or end members 71 of the squeegees 21 and 22 are connectedto the center member 70, in each case, by pivot means so that the endmembers may be pivoted upwardly to the dot and dash line position ofFIG. 4 for treating narrow pavements or to clear obstacles or to occupyless width when the squeegees are not in use. For this purpose the endmembers 71 are pivoted to the center members 70 on horizontal axes asindicated at 80 in FIG. 4. The end members may be held in raisedpositions by releasable pins 81 carried by generally upright arms 82which are fixed to opposite ends of each center member 70.

The end members 71 are also pivoted to the center members 70 in such away that they may resiliently deect rearwardly when an obstacle isencountered. A vertical pivot pin lfor this purpose is indicated at 84in FIG. 4 and the details of this resilient connection are shown in thefragmentary enlarged plan view, FIG. 8. The horizontal pivot 80 includesspaced bearing parts 86 xed to center member 70 and a pivoted bearingpart 87. The pivoted bearing part 87 is in turn pivoted to end member 71by the aforesaid vertical pivot pin 84.

An extension coil spring 89 is lixed to lugs 90 and 91 carried by thecenter and end members 70 and 71, respectively, and normally maintainsthese members in abutting alignment as shown in FIG. 8. When anobstruction is encountered the end member 71 may dellect resilientlyrearwardly to any necessary extent as indicated by the dot and dashlines in FIG. 8.

Reference will now be had to the means provided herein for depositingthe sealing or other liquid or semi-liquid pavement coating or treatingmaterial on the roadway or pavement surface ahead of the aforesaidsqueegee arrangement in order that the same may be spread thereby. Foruniform and ecient spreading it is required that the material bedeposited on the roadway or pavement somewhat uniformly thereacross andthis result is not readily achieved owing to the viscous, sticky andadherent nature of the sealing material.

Conventional liquid distributing manifolds which involve moderatelyrestricted orices result in clogging and stoppage and resultant unevenand inadequate deposit of material and clearing such internal stoppagesis virtually impossible in the field. The present invention provides adistributing arrangement whereby the liquid or semiliquid slurry isdistributed fanwise by means of open chutes or passages of substantialwidth which do not impose narrow or constricted flow paths and which,due to their open nature, are inherently non-clogging and readilyaccessible for cleaning when necessary or desired.

Speaking generally, the liquid material or slurry distributing anddepositing arrangement shown herein com- -prises a pair of successivelyarranged generally fan shaped inclined chute devices designatedgenerally by the reference numerals 95 and 96. The chute device 95, inthe structure set forth herein by way of example, is provided with anentry conduit portion 97 connected with the outlet conduit 14 of tank 12and an inclined fan-shaped bottom wall 98. Bottom wall 98 is dividedinto four channels which increase in width in the direction of tiow, asclearly shown in FIG. 5, by virtue of ve generally upright divergingwall members 100 which are fixed to bottom wall 98.

At their discharge ends the wall members 100 have hinged thereto Wallmember extensions 101 which are each pivoted to a common transverse bar102 having a handle 103 xed thereto. Movement of handle 103 to the rightor left swings the wall member extensions 101 jointly as indicated bythe dot and dash arcs in FIG. 5 to vary the lateral points of dischargefrom the chute device 95 to the chute device 96.

The entry end of chute device 96 underlies chute device 95 as clearlyshown in FIG. 2 and chute device 96 comprises a fan shaped bottom wall105 extending at an incline generally parallel to the bottom wall 98 ofchute device 95. An upward extension 106 of bottom wall 105 is ixedbetween the truck frame members 10 and tank base members 11. A downwardcontinuation of bottom wall 105 designated 107 i-s hinged to bottom wall105 as at 108, see FIG. 6, so that such downward continuation may beswung upwardly (in a counterclockwise direction las viewed in FIG. 2) tobe entirely clear of the road or pavement and thus aiord ample roadclearance when the depositing and spreading means is not in operation.

As shown in FIGS. l and 5, the hinged bottom wall continuation 107 ofchute device 96 has lateral extensions 110 hinged thereto as at 111,whereby such lateral extensions may be hinged upwardly when not in useto narrow the overall width of the apparatus in conjunction with upwardpivotal movement of the lateral members 71 of the squeegees.

The upper surfaces of the bottom wall portions 105 and 107 are providedwith generally upright diverging ribs or wall members 112 and 113,respectively, which form a plurality of channels, in the presentinstance ten in number, which increase in width in the direction ofllow.

By reason of the greater number of channels in the relatively widerchute 96 as compared with the upper narrower chute 95, the channels inthe two chutes are of generally the same order of width so that theydistribute the material laterally without undue constriction in the flowand still with sufficient equality of distribution.

It will be noted that the lateral swinging of the wall member extensions101 of chute 95 may be employed to direct the material somewhat more toone side or the other of the chute 96 and this control of thedistribution pattern is particularly advantageous when one side of acrowned road or pavement is being treated so that the apparatus islaterally inclined and the normal tendency would be for the material tobe deposited too much toward the low side of the road or pavement.

In FIG. 1 the numeral 114 designates, in dot and dash lines, a seat fromwhich an operator of the depositing and spreading apparatus operates thevarious controls and adjustments described herein. While thespecification and claims refer generally to lthe spreading elements assqueegees, it is to be understood that this term is not used in arestrictive sense and that various forms of wiping members may beemployed as the actual spreading elements within the purview of theinvention.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for applying flowable material to a pavement sufacecomprising mobile means adapted to move along a pavement surface anddeposit owable material thereon and means for spreading the depositedmaterial uniformly across a band of predetermined width along saidpavement, said spreading means comprising a pair of transverse generallyco-extensive squeegees adapted to traverse the pavement successively, asupport for said squeegees and means mounting the first squeeges fromsaid support for relative vertical adjustment, said second lsqueegeebeing movably mounted with respect to said 7 support for relativevertical movement and having ground engaging means for gauging thedegree of wiping engagement thereof with the pavement, means forselectively raising said support to raise both squeegees jointlylaterally to adjust the position of the wiping band relative to themobile means.

2. Apparatus for applying ovvable material to a pavement surfacecomprising mobile means adapted to move along a pavement surface anddeposit flowable material thereon and means for spreading the depositedmaterial uniformly across a bandl of predetermined Width along saidpavement, said spreading means comprising a pair of transverse generallyco-extensive squeegees adapted to traverse the pavement successively, asupport for said squeegees and means mounting the rst squeegee from saidlsupport for relative vertical adjustment, said second squeegee beingpivotally mounted for limited relative vertical movement With respect tosaid support and having ground engaging means for gauging the degree ofwiping engagement thereof With the pavement independently of the heightof the support means Within the range of said limited pivotal movement,and means for selectively raising said support to raise both squeegeesjointly to inoperative positions.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS HansenDec. 14, Stock July 7, Kanen June 20, Walker Apr. 17, Hurt June 25,McCrery Sept. 15, Mosel Sept. 15, Broome July 6, Rich Sept. 21,Wahlstrom Dec. 5, Jackson Nov. 4, Millikin Sept. 2, Bohannan Apr. 1,Reissinger Sept. 8,

FOREIGN PATENTS France Dec. 11, France Feb. 11, Great Britain Sept. 5,Great Britain Oct. 2, Great Britain June 24,

1. APPARATUS FOR APPLYING FLOWABLE MATERIAL TO A PAVEMENT SURFACECOMPRISING MOBILE MEANS ADAPTED TO MOVE ALONG A PAVEMENT SURFACE ANDDEPOSIT FLOWABLE MATERIAL THEREON AND MEANS FOR SPREADING THE DEPOSITEDMATERIAL UNIFORMLY ACROSS A BAND OF PREDETERMINED WIDTH ALONG SAIDPAVEMENT, SAID SPREADING MEANS COMPRISING A PAIR OF TRANSVERSE GENERALLYCO-EXTENSIVE SQUEEGEES ADAPTED TO TRAVERSE THE PAVEMENT SUCCESIVELY, ASUPPORT FOR SAID SQUEEGEES AND MEANS MOUNTING THE FIRST SQUEEGES FROMSAID SUPPORT FOR RELATIVE VERTICAL ADJUSTMENT, SAID SECOND SQUEEGEEBEING MOVABLY MOUNTED WITH RESPECT TO SAID SUPPORT FOR RELATIVE VERTICALMOVEMENT AND HAVING GROUND ENGAGING MEANS FOR GAUGING THE DEGREE OFWIPING ENGAGEMENT THEREOF WITH THE PAVEMENT, MEANS FOR SELECTIVELYRAISING SAID SUPPORT TO RAISE BOTH SQUEEGEES JOINTLY LATERALLY TO ADJUSTTHE POSITION OF THE WIPING BAND RELATIVE TO THE MOBILE MEANS.